The Nature of Illusion
by 221B-DoctorStreet
Summary: Addie Haldaney was just an average girl looking for meaning in her life. She's always had this nagging feeling in the back of her mind like something was wrong. Like everything is not as it seems. When she meets a mysterious man, her whole world is turned upside down...


It was just another average day in the life of Addie Haldaney. She awoke, rather early, and painstakingly looked over at the soft, red glow coming from her alarm clock. It read 5:44, set to go off in a matter of seconds. Not wanting to wake the rest of the house, she reached over and turned it off. Still lying in bed, she looked up at the vast ceiling. She thought and thought about all the things she could think of 'till she could think no more. She had a painful nagging in the back of her mind, as if something were missing in her bland, tasteless life. Seeing that 6 minutes had already passed, she rolled over and sat up and felt the soft, fuzzy carpeting beneath her feet. She slipped on her bunny slippers and headed into the kitchen.

After breakfast, she popped into the shower and, after a bit of grooming, was ready for the day. She didn't have a job, but her mum made her leave the house to try and be social every morning at 6:30. She wore a thin, white tank top that complimented the curvature of her body, along with a black mini leather skirt and red thigh high boots. Her long, straight, dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a massive bun on the top of her head, and she wore a turquoise bow. As far as makeup was concerned, Addie never really bothered with it. Her lips were full and naturally a light pink and her brown eyes and lashes seemed large enough without mascara and. She was a walking fashion statement.

Her unique style and beauty sparked interest in many. She was just too blind to see. She's so out of touch with reality..she feels as though someone..or something..is out there, waiting, to be found. She starts by looking in the one place she knew she could go and not be bothered by the pressures of society: Starbucks. She always went to the Starbucks a block from her house.

There waiting was her only friend in the world: an Irishman named Tom. He was a noticeably attractive fellow with black, spiky hair. He owned a smile that could light up the world. He had small gauges, a nose ring, a tongue piercing, and sleeve tattoos. He wore a black t-shirt with NIRVANA printed on the front, tattered purple skinny jeans and black converses. He had already ordered for them two tall caramel macchiatos. He was sitting all the way in the back staring out the window as a light rain began to fall. Seeing him, she rushed over to him and sat down at the table for two.

"Hello, Addie Raddie," he greeted with a smile. His beautiful accent danced around in her ears and darted around in her heart, but she didn't smile back. "What's the matter? You look a little blue, love." She looked into his eyes like a guilty puppy, then quickly looked away and grabbed her coffee. After a long sip, she finally said, "It's raining, then." She just stared out the window. They said nothing to each other for about 10 minutes. Breaking the silence, Tom finally spoke up.

"Addie, I know things are rough for you, but you can't keep doing this. I..I hate seeing you like this. Please, tell me what's wrong." She looked at him and confessed. "Tommy, I don't really...enjoy ma' life. I feel like there's something missing. I want to leave and run and keep running until I can't run anymore. I long to be somewhere else. I can't keep doing this. All I do is sit in a coffee shop and drink coffee. Tom, you're my only friend and I thank you for that. But I'm so lonely...I don't belong here. I belong somewhere far from here!" By this time, she was standing, had tears in her eyes, and was shouting. After her sudden realization she looked around and saw faces staring back at her. Embarrassed, she slowly sat back down, wiped her face, and sank in her chair.

Tom was staring at her with amazement. She had no idea he was attracted to her. He loved her so much, but she was too insecure to notice. He thought now should be the time to tell her, especially since she was feeling low. Her hands were on the table. He slowly sat up in his chair. "Hey..Addie," his hand touched hers and she jumped a little. "Addie I need to tell you something." _Oh no, _Addie thought. _He's probably tired of me..what if he doesn't want to be my friend anymore? _Before Tom could say another word, there was a flashing blue light outside. She stood up, wanting to change the subject. "Did you see that?" she asked. Tom sighed, sat back in his chair, and said, "Yeah...whatever."

Desperately wanting things to be unusual for once, Addie raced outside in the now heavy downpour and frantically searched for something weird. _Please, just this once...be..weird._ Then she spotted it. A blue Police Box was hidden in the background of the scene. Next to it stood a man. She could barely make out what he was wearing. She needed a closer look. She crept closer and closer to the man until she was standing right in front of him.

The man was tall and skinny. He wore a red and white plaid shirt with red suspenders and a light brown jacket over it all. What stuck out the most, though, was a peculiar little red bow tie. The suspenders held up his dark brown trousers just a little too high; his skinny ankles were showing, covered in white socks. His shoes looked tattered in a sort of..ancient way. His face was long, with a chin that stuck out a bit, and sharp cheekbones. At a moment's glance, he looked like a normal man with an odd fashion sense. But his eyes..his eyes said otherwise. They were the color of the ocean after a crystal storm from clouds made of hope, and dreams. They looked old and tired, and inside them you could see a twisted history of rain and shine, fire and ice, conflict and compromise, rage and mercy. Addie knew..oh, she knew..this man was no ordinary man.

He had a sad look on his face, but as he saw Addie approaching, he brightened. As the happiness overcame his face, it was as though a fire was lit in his soul. She couldn't help but smile, for she sensed the importance of this man. "Hello, I'm-" he started, but he was cut off by her. She held up her hand. "Sh, sh..don't speak," she said. She studied his body up and down, and then her eyes were drawn to the tall blue box he was standing next to. "Okay, continue," she said. "Hello, I'm looking for a statue. No, it's not a statue. Well..sort of. Do I know you?" He peered into her eyes. Intimidated, she stepped back a little. "Umm..who are you?" she asked. "I'm nobody," he said, then he took off.

Addie ran behind him. "Are...are you a policeman?" she asked. She could barely keep up with him. "No, why..do I look like a policeman? Hmm, that's a first." He stopped dead in the middle of his run. Addie nearly ran into him. "Why are you following me? Are you a spy?" He widened his eyes and looked down on her. She stepped back a few feet. "Umm..no, I just wanted to follow you cause, well, umm.." She was so fascinated by this man she had no idea what to say. "What's your name?" she asked him.

"Don't fall behind if you want to live," he started, "cause once you encounter me, there's no going back. I always wondered why the others never came out alright in the end, but I realized it's me. It..was..me. I never had any intention of hurting them, but I did. They were happy..but it's like I took a part of their life away. The universe works in strange ways, I suppose..I don't know, are you coming or not I've got a lot to do!" He took off again. This was a lot to process, but she didn't have time to think. As if by instinct, she followed him.

When she caught up to him, he was holding a small contraption. "What's that?" she asked. "This is my stone, angel, findy,thingy..Oh, that's a rubbish name." "What does it do?" "I'm tracking a Weeping Angel by the name of Amelia." _Weeping Angel...Amelia..why does that sound familiar? _she thought. "This machine, it dings when one is in a 10 mile radius. Ohhhh come on!" He was banging it against his hand. It stopped dinging and smoke began coming out of it. He threw it on the ground and stomped on it. "Well then," he said. He ran back to his blue box. Addie was right behind him. "If you're a doctor, why do you own a box that says Police on it?" she asked. "Did I leave the water running?" he asked. He ran inside the box.

Just then, Tom ran up to Addie. "There you are," he said. "Where were you? Are you alright?" "Tom," she began, "I just met this wonderful man. I don't exactly know him, but, I feel like I do. He's mysterious, and he's mad, and..here, I'll show you." She knocked on the box, and it creaked open. There was an orange, radiant glow coming from inside. "What..on..earth..." She stepped inside.

"Addie, sweetheart, where are you going?" She couldn't hear Tom. She was too busy inside this box, for it was bigger on the inside. She ran outside and ran around the box with her hands on it. When she ran back inside, the man was sitting against something that looked like a control panel in the middle of the room. He walked towards her, all slow and casual like. "Hello... I'm the Doctor," he said with a smile. _Doctor. _That name..it stuck out like a sore thumb in the back of her mind. It rang through her ears and dissolved into her soul.

She could feel the intense energy reverberating from this man. "Doctor," she repeated. "Yes, that's me. But who cares who I am?" He walked slowly and sat down on the top of a set of 4 stairs and quietly said to himself, "No one ever cares when you're dead." He frowned and Addie walked over to him. "What do you mean...'dead'?" she asked. "Never mind me. Off you go." He pushed her along to the door and she stopped him. "Now you wait just a minute," she demanded. "Who are you? What is this box? How have you got this whole room jammed in here?" He put his hands on her shoulders. "What's your name?" he asked. Two little tears ran down her face, one from each eye. "Addie..." she answered slowly. "Well, Addie, I would love to sit and discuss this over tea, but I'm an important man, and I've got loads of important things to do and..are you crying?"

She shook her head, but felt her face and wiped it away, confused. The Doctor grabbed her hand. She pulled back with shock. Then she looked at him with utter fascination. "...Doctor..? I-is that you..? Touch me again..." He touched her face and brushed a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. She nearly passed out. He grabbed her and held her up. "Addie, are you alright?" He stood her back up. She looked at him dead in the eye and said, "Doctor you've been a naughty boy! Where's Rory?" in the thickest Scottish accent he had ever heard. He widened his eyes. He quickly ran over to the control panel and pulled out a contraption identical to the one he was using previously.

He turned it on and held it up to her. It beeped erratically. The color drained from his face? "Doctor..what's the matter?" Addie asked, still Scottish. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it and ran outside of the box. He held up the device to Tommy, and it also beeped erratically, in the same pattern as it did with Addie. "Umm..Addie, stay put. Don't you dare move. Tommy, would you be a dear and step into my box?"

Tommy stepped inside the box. The Doctor spotted him admiring the larger inside. "It's called the TARDIS. T-A-R-D-I-S." Addie had a gruesome expression on her face. She looked at the Doctor and said, "Time And Relative Dimensions In Space." The Doctor walked over to her. "Addie," he said, "I'm going to say a word or two, and I want you to say the first thing that comes to your mind." She nodded.

"Fish fingers."

"Custard."

"Raggedy."

"Doctor."

"Prisoner Zero."

"Has escaped."

"A crack."

"In time."

"Two parts."

"That should never have touched."

"Rory."

"Williams."

"Amelia Pond."

"Like a name in a fairytale."

"Addie, tell me..where did you hear all of these things?"

"Well, I was seven. There was a crack in my wall. I knew it wasn't a regular crack. 'Cause at night there were voices. I prayed to Santa that a Policeman would come, and right then a mad man crashed in my backyard. He opened my wall, and discovered that Prisoner Zero had escaped." She was smiling at the memory of this wonderful man. "Oh, Doctor , he was so wonderful. One funny little thing, though. A bow t—Oh..my..GOD! Doctor, it's you! It's really you! Question is, who the hell am I? Wait a minute…is that.._Rory_?" She pointed to Tom.


End file.
